The present invention relates to locking mechanisms for cabinets and desks and more particularly to locking devices capable of selectively engaging and disengaging a plurality of drawers simultaneously.
In the past, multiple-drawer locking devices have called for pivotally interconnected linkages and associated hardware actuated by a key-operated latch or by a master locking drawer. Some of these prior art locks were fashioned from relatively narrow gauge rods or straps in a complex linkage pattern. U.S. Pat. No. 341,746 issued May 11, 1886 to Hall, represents the most pertinent prior art known to the applicant. The Hall patent discloses a desk drawer locking mechanism comprising a parallelogram linkage actuated by a key-locking drawer that secures all other drawers in the desk when the master locking drawer is closed. The vertical locking strips or bars of the mechanism move laterally into grooves or recesses formed in the rear portions of the drawers to lock the same. However, the locking system of the aforesaid Hall patent involves a kinematic linkage materially more complex and cumbersome in operation than the locking frame herein proposed.
The present drawer-locking apparatus, in contrast, is comprised of a rigid locking frame that, as a unit, slides laterally within a merchandise cabinet. In addition, the present invention is actuated by a locking frame lever which is remote from the drawers to be locked. In the past, such devices have been actuated either by closing a master drawer which, in turn, is locked by key, or by the movement of a key-locking mechanism itself.